Elect Maine's Governor by Instant Runoff Election (Ranked Choice Voting)

Paul LePage would never have become governor if we were allowed to vote by ranking candidates in order of preference. Most of the votes for Libby Mitchell would have gone to Eliot Cutler or vice versa, and one of them would have won.

Within the past few years, instant run-off voting (IRV) has been successfully used in several municipal elections across the nation. IRV enables one to vote for his/her true first choice, while indicating a second and third choice candidate. In the event that no candidate garners 50% plus one vote, the candidate with the least number of votes is eliminated, and voters who ranked that candidate first have their votes recast to their second choice candidate. This process is repeated until one candidate garners 50% plus one vote. IRV avoids sequential run-off elections and enables the voter to cast a "single transferable vote," ensuring that the winning candidate has a majority.